Shades of Blue
by symphonyflute
Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now. HC. Last chapter removed to be rewritten
1. Chapter 1

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: The recipe is for Hoisin chicken in lettuce leaves. I'm not sure if it's good, because I'm a vegetarian, but it certainly sounds prestigious.

"There are five types of lettuce," Phoebe announced into her cell phone as she pushed her grocery cart along the produce section. "Which should I buy?"

"Well what does the recipe say?" Paige asked reasonably.

Phoebe checked the internet printout she was carrying around in her pocket. "It says lettuce," she read.

"Hmm." Paige thought about it for a minute, trying to figure out what would be the best solution. "What's the best tasting lettuce?'

Phoebe rolled her eyes, though she knew her younger sister couldn't see it. "I have no idea," she replied. "I didn't even know there was more than one."

"Then buy the cheapest?" she suggested.

Phoebe thought it over. "Works for me," she decided, saying good bye to Paige and putting her cell phone back in her purse. She quickly scoured the shelf, placing the least expensive head of lettuce in her court. She checked the recipe again, and realized she had only one more thing to buy before she could do some personal shopping and go home.

"Why are there no scallions here?" she wondered aloud as she walked up and down the seafood aisle she had decided the scallions were in.

"Maybe because they're onions," Paige said as she suddenly appeared behind Phoebe.

Phoebe gasped and nearly jumped a foot in the air. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"A minute ago," Paige answered. "I you-know-whated out behind the building. Piper's been giving me the third degree about my plans for tonight; you know, the whole I don't want a party' kick? So I decided to come see how your shopping was going."

Phoebe pushed her cart back to the produce section and Paige placed a bag of scallions in it. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Just some crap for me," she said. "I'll be home in a little while."

"Then I guess I'll go brave mommy dearest," Paige said, heading toward the exit to orb home.

Phoebe was walking down the skin hair/hair care aisle when her nose was suddenly hit with a monstrous tickle. Not expecting it, she didn't have time to move to cover her mouth as she sneezed loudly and openly at the floor. "_ACHOO!_" Several other women in the aisle blessed her, and she blushed and smiled her gratitude.

Figuring the highly scented shampoos the aisle was filled with were bothering her, she quickly hurried out of the isle. She had barely gotten away from the shampoos when a crippling pain erupted behind her eyes and she pressed her hand to her forehead and groaned, sinking to the floor as the store spun around her.

"Are you alright?" Vaguely, she heard a man's voice calling to her through the fog of agony she was suddenly in. Strong hands helped her up from the floor and to an employee ladder to sit down on a few meters away.

Slowly, the pain eased and her vision cleared, allowing her to see an older man, about fifty or so, kneeling in front of her and staring at her with concern etched on his kind face.

"I'm all right," she assured the man, standing up. He tried to get her to sit back down, make sure she was ok, but she waved his worries off with her hand. "Really, I'm fine," she repeated. "I'm sure it was jut stress from work catching up with me or something." He still looked doubtful, so she tried a stab at humor. "But I'll still buy out the painkiller section. Maybe an overdose will erase any memory of this ever happening." The man laughed and patted her on the arm, leaving her then to continue his shopping.

Even though she had been joking, Phoebe still entered the pharmaceuticals aisle, which ironically enough she had been right next to when she got her surprise migraine, to get a bottle of aspirin in case it happened again. She was reading the labels of the seemingly hundreds of little white bottles trying to find one that said aspirin on it, when she heard two sneezes to her left. "_Hetchoo! Etchoo!"_

"G'bless you," she said absent-mindedly as she continued to search the shelves.

"Thanks," said a male voice, presumably the sneezer. Phoebe was so intent on finding her aspirin so she could go home, it took her a minute to process that she recognized the voice.

"Chris?"

The brown-haired whitelighter looked up at her with a surprised expression on his face. Apparently he hadn't recognized her voice either. "Phoebe? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for aspirin," she told him shortly. It was a public store of course, but she wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Chris there. Wordlessly, he reached in front of her, causing Phoebe to jump back involuntarily, and plucked a white bottle from the sea of identical white bottles and handed it to her.

"What's up with the gloves?" she asked curiously. He had a black glove, like the ones people wear in the winter, on one hand, and the other was sticking out of his pocket, which looked especially odd considering he was wearing T-shirt. "Not going all Michael Jackson on us, are you?"

He shook his head. "It's March. Not a crime to wear gloves when it's cold out."

"But just one?"

"Yes," he defended, "one. I have one cold hand, do you have a problem with that?"

"Whatever," Phoebe said. She checked the label of the bottle he had handed her. It said Bayer Extra Strength Aspirin. "Thank you," she said, surprised that he had helped her after all she and her sisters had said to him, but he was gone and didn't hear her thank him.

Phoebe shopped around for a few more minutes, finding a sale on her favorite shade of lipstick in the make-up aisle, before pushing her cart over to the do it your self checkout. She finished scanning her items, slid her credit card through the card reader, and grabbed her bags.

She caught a look at the clock above the door as she walked out, and realized she was supposed to be home in three minutes, because she'd told Piper she would watch Wyatt so she could go to P3. Piper was under the impression that Paige was going to work today too, which wasn't true because she and Paige were going to cook piper's birthday dinner, but keeping up appearances was vital when it came to trying to trick the eldest Halliwell. That meant she really had to make it home.

Phoebe began walking faster in hopes of getting to her car faster, but her heel got caught in a crack in the Pavement. She just managed to keep her balance, but her groceries crashed to the ground. She sighed in frustration, and tried to take a step forward. As it turned out, her foot was stuck, and she stumbled again.

"Need a hand?" a voice asked behind her. This time she easily recognized it as Chris, and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes, though when she turned to look at him he wore his usual unreadable expression.

"It would be very much appreciated," Phoebe admitted. Chris put his two bags on the ground and hoisted her out of the concrete. "Thanks," she said gratefully as they got down on the ground to collect her spilt groceries. "That's twice in one day you've saved my but," she told him. "You know, in the non-literal way."

She gathered her mass of bags and walked at a much more conservative pace to her car. After unceremoniously dumping the bags in the trunk, she backed out of her parking spot and drove toward the road. Out of the rearview mirror, she saw Chris pick up his brown paper bags and begin walking in the opposite direction. She briefly wondered why he didn't just orb, but didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Sorry I'm late," Phoebe called as she entered the manor through the front door. After kicking off her pumps and nudging the into a corner, se carried her mass of groceries into the kitchen and dropped them on the table. "Is Piper at P3 yet?" she asked.

Paige, who was sitting at the kitchen table flipping through the want ads, shook her head. "She decided not to go. Found it to be quite a coincidence when I did too."

"Are you serious?" Phoebe gasped. "We have to hide this stuff." the two sisters began stuffing the assorted ingredients for Piper's birthday dinner, and anything else that happened to be in the bag, into the back of the refrigerator bag by bag. By the time Piper entered the kitchen, there was only one bag left, which she eyed warily.

"What did you buy?" she asked suspiciously, bouncing Wyatt on her hip.

"Just some stuff," Phoebe answered nonchalantly.

Piper raised her eyebrows. "Like party stuff?" she pried.

"Of course not," Phoebe lied. "It's just-" She looked at Paige for little help, but the phone rang and Paige went to answer it. Piper grabbed the bag with her free hand and dumped it out. "Orange juice and a ski mask," she finished, after seeing what was on the bag.

"Why would you buy a ski mask?" Piper questioned.

"You know, I have no idea," Phoebe replied honestly. Piper looked like she was going to ask some more questions, but Paige came back in the room then, holding her hand over the mouthpiece f the cordless phone.

"Chris is on the phone," she announced in a shocked voice.

"Why the hell would he call?" Piper demanded.

"Chris has a phone?" Phoebe asked at the same time.

"He says he ran into Phoebe at the grocery store earlier. That true?"

"Yeah," Phoebe confirmed. "What's that have to do with anything?"

"He has a can of water chestnuts and a box of tampons, and wants to know if we have a thing of orange juice and a ski mask we didn't buy."

"We do," Piper said.

"We do," Paige said into the phone. She listened for a minute, then covered the mouthpiece again. "We can't go to the park and switch items, can we?"

"Absolutely not," Piper told her. "Tell him to orb his ass over here and grab his crap."

"Orb over and get it," Paige repeated into the phone. She listened some more, then said "OK, bye."

"Well?" Phoebe prodded.

"He has some stuff to do but he'll be over soon," Paige answered. "But in the meantime, I have a proposition."

"What's that?" Piper asked.

"You and Wyatt should go to that Mommy and Me special they have down at the aerobics club. Phoebe and I'll be here when Chris gets here."

Piper was hesitant to go, but after a few convincing words from her younger sisters, she bundled up her toddler and went to the aerobic club.

There wasn't much they could do without the water chestnuts, so Phoebe and Paige just sorted trough the stuff they had shoved in the fridge, placing the food on the counter and the aspirin in the cupboard.

About half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Phoebe pulled the large glass door open to reveal Chris, now wearing both gloves. Phoebe handed him the bag she had accidentally taken, and he gave her hers in return. No words were exchanged, and Chris turned to go.

"Oh my God!" Paige exclaimed as she entered the foyer right before Chris began to leave. They both looked at her to see what was the matter.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked, a bit peeved. He had planned on coming and going in less then a minute, but the whitelighter in him wouldn't let him leave if something was wrong.

"Your eyes," she said.

"What about my eyes?"

"They turned blue."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Yay, I got reviews. I was going to ask for them, but I got them anyway. I'm happy now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you suggesting my eyes magically transformed?" he asked tensely, looking longingly at the door.

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen," Paige said.

"Because it didn't," he said. "My eyes have always been blue."

"That's a lie," Phoebe told him, feeling Paige's surge of anger at his continuous dishonesty as well as her own. "They were brown at the store."

"Then we have a mystery on our hands I suppose." He shoved his gloved hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Can I go now?"

"No," the sisters told him simultaneously. Magically changing eye color could just be the beginning of a supernatural calamity. Phoebe reached forward and grabbed his arm to guide him into the house, when she was hit by a vision.

_Chris was sitting in a chair with his arms chained to the armrests. She couldn't see his face, and he was shadowed, but she felt fear rolling off him like sweat. A rather big man holding a shotgun poised to shoot approached him slowly from behind. _

_"What are you boy?" the man spat, kicking the chair. Chris was shaken and his dark hair flopped around, but didn't say a word. The man lifted the gun and pressed it against the back of Chris' head. "I said," he spat, "what the hell are you?"_

_"I'm an angel," Chris whispered._

"Oh my God," Phoebe gasped, coming back to the present. She let go of Chris' arm and staggered, and would have fallen had he not caught her.

"Are you ok?" he asked in a much kinder tone than he'd been using a minute ago as he and Paige half-dragged her to the living room. She sank down on the couch with her shaking arms on her lap.

"Did you have a vision?" Paige asked. Phoebe nodded, then looked pointedly at Chris. Paige got the point she was trying to get across. "Can you go make some tea?"

Chris looked like he wanted to argue, but shrugged and walked into the kitchen instead. Phoebe waited until she heard running water before divulging the details of her vision.

"He's going to reveal magic?" Paige gasped. Phoebe nodded grimly. "We have to stop him."

"Here's your tea," Chris announced as he reentered the room carrying a steaming mug. "Can I go now?"

"No!" Paige yelped. "I mean…stay a while, watch some TV. Let's hang out."

Chris didn't say anything in return, just looked at her. Phoebe was about to help Paige and looked over at her when she felt a vague urge to sneeze again. Curiously, she wondered why, as there was nothing heavily scented or overly fragrant in the living room. Then she noticed Chris rubbing his nose out of her peripheral vision, and it immediately clicked.

"You made me sneeze," she accused..

"what? He asked in a shocked voice. I barely talked to you." He gave her an annoyed glare, but sneezed again, completely ruining his stalwart façade.

"Bless you," Phoebe offered. She waited a minute, while he dug some crumpled Kleenex out of his pocket and blew his nose. When he was composed again, Phoebe brought back up her previous point. "You were in the pharmaceuticals aisle earlier, right? He nodded his consent. "I was right by it when I sneezed out of the blue and got a splitting headache. You did that to me."

"I did not," he argued. "I didn't do anything to you. Do you really distrust me _that_ much?"

"I'm not answering that," Phoebe told him. "And yes you did, just not directly. It was the empath thing. You had to sneeze, I sneezed. You had a headache, I had a grand-maul collapse in the grocery store."

"Oh?" Chris hadn't known about that. "Sorry."

"Not your fault," Phoebe told him. "Does your wrist hurt?"

Chris looked confused for a moment, then looked down and realized he had been rubbing his left wrist subconsciously. It tingled uncomfortably, but didn't hurt exactly. "No, it's fine."

"Then why are you rubbing it?" she pressed.

"I don't know," Chris lied. There was no way he could tell her why, even though he knew it was a weak lie.

"That's a weak lie," Paige told him, her eyes narrowed. "Why can't you just tell us the truth for once?"

"Because I don't…" Whatever lie Chris was going to scrounge up was forgotten as the young whitelighter started coughing harshly.When he was done, Phoebe felt a pang of worry that she knew wasn't her own and doubted was Paige's. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he shook his head and orbed away.

"That's bad," Phoebe said.

"What's bad?" It was Piper, home from her afternoon with Wyatt hours early.

"You're home early," Phoebe noticed.

"And that's bad? Gee, thanks Phoebes"

"No. It was just an observation. I'm always happy to see you. And I'm really happy to see you," she cooed to Wyatt, who giggled happily at her.

"There's supposed to be a big storm and they opted to let us all leave so we didn't have to drive through it," Piper explained. "But you're avoiding." She put Wyatt on the ground so he could go play and put her hands on her hips, in classic big sister mode. "What's bad?"

"I had a premonition that Chris reveals he's a whitelighter," Phoebe told her. "So we tried to get him to stay here, but he orbed away."

"Why would he do something that stupid?" Piper asked.

"He was blue," Paige offered.

"I don't care about his emotions," Piper said. "I care about his condemning us to a life of torment by all the mortals who can't except magic."

"No," Paige argued, "I mean he was blue. Like, his skin."

"I didn't notice that," Phoebe piped up.

Paige shrugged. "I only got a glimpse. His wrist got bluer every couple minutes, but then he orbed away."

"That's why he was worried," Phoebe realized.

"He was worried?" Piper repeated. "Does that mean he doesn't know why it's happening?"

"Or maybe it means he does," Paige suggested.

"There's only one way to settle this," Phoebe announced.

"What's that?" Paige asked.

Phoebe turned her face to the ceiling. "CHRIS!"

Across town, Chris doubled over in pain and groaned, grabbing his head as Phoebe's voice entered it, echoing. The sorcerer who's shop he was in gave him a curious look. "You are fine?" he asked.

"I am fine," he confirmed, "just having a whitelighter moment." He straightened up and shook his head to clear it. "I need a potion."

"What kind of potion?" the old man asked, all business.

"An empath-blocking potion."

The sorcerer looked confused. "You already had that."

"Stopped working." Chris shrugged. "Though if it can be arranged, I'd rather not go on another dangerous egg-hunting adventure."

"You are in luck," the sorcerer told him, drawing out a small blue vial from beneath the desk. "There was enough from the egg you brought last time to make one more." He handed it to Chris, who pulled the top off and downed it in one gulp.

"What do I owe you in return?" he asked, mentally hitting himself for not having asked before.

"Nothing." The old man shook his head. "I feel badly that my potion stopped working. Consider this a free refill'."

"Thank you," Chris said. The sorcerer nodded his head in return, then asked "are you not very warm in that shirt?"

Chris looked down at his sweatshirt. "Not really."

Chris left the old store, enchanted to look like an office. Only a few seconds after he was back in the glaring sunlight, his name rang in his head again, Phoebe's voice grating and loud in his already throbbing head. "CHRIS?"

He ducked behind the nearest building still clutching his aching head and, after checking to make sure he was alone, orbed back to the manor.

"What do you want?" he snapped as he materialized in the living room in front of the waiting witches.

"A normal life where my son grows up safe and happy and my life isn't constantly in danger from demons and anyone who figures out my secret," Piper answered. "But I' settle for a simple explanation from you."

"What do you want to know?" he asked, rubbing his temples.

"Why are you blue?"

"I'm not blue," he said. Phoebe pulled off his glove and revealed his bright blue hand. "Oh, _that_ kind of blue. Yes, I'm slightly blue."

"Why?" Piper repeated.

"I really don't want to talk about it," he answered, continuing to rub his temples.

"Does your head hurt?" Paige asked.

"Huh?" Realizing what he was doing, he sheepishly lowered his hands. "Oh. Yeah, a bit."

"Why?"

"Could have something to do with the fact Phoebe's been screaming in my head."

"That's never bothered you before," Paige pointed out.

"Well it did today," he said, clearly annoyed. "Which brings me to my first question. What do you want?"

"I had a vision," Phoebe explained. "In it, you, well you…" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"You revealed magic," Piper finished. "Presumably ruining all our lives."

Chris nodded slowly, trying to absorb the information he had just received. "I'm glad you told me," he said. "Now I can keep it from happening."

"No, now _we _can keep it from happening," Paige said. "You do realize we want you to stay here, right?"

"I'm not staying here," he told them. "I'm going back to my bench."

"Your bench?"

"I'm from the future," he reminded them. "I have no ID, no credit, no way of getting a job that pays over minimum wage. Where am I supposed to get money to afford an apartment?"

"So you sleep in a park?"

Chris nodded. "I sleep in a park. I work at a bookstore. If you cared at all, you'd have asked about that before. So what makes you think I'll believe you care now and suddenly except your hospitality?"

"We don't care about you," Piper said curtly. "We care about us. And what'll happen to us."

"And I'm telling you I won't reveal magic," Chris promised. "Now I'm leaving. Please don't call me again." He began walking to the door.

"Chris!" Paige exclaimed. "You can't go anywhere. We need you to stay here."

Chris answered by sneezing again. This time, Phoebe hadn't known he was going to sneeze, and she realized she hadn't known about his headache either. Apparently, her rare ability to read Chris was over.

He reached for the door handle and pulled it open, but Piper grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. He just glared at her and orbed away.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Yay, I got reviews. I was going to ask for them, but I got them anyway. I'm happy now.

A/N 2: We're just going to assume Whitelighters can heal anyone who's hurt, but can only heal sicknesses if a person they really care about is sick. Like how Leo healed Wyatt and Piper. He can't heal Chris.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rain beat down on the ground and thunder clapped overhead. Chris huddled under the hood of his sweatshirt on the park bench he'd been sleeping on and shivered. He vaguely wished he had warmer clothes than a sweatshirt and jeans as his clothes were already soaked and not keeping him warm at all.

Lightning brightened the sky, giving the trees an eerier golden glow, but Chris was coughing too hard to notice. He groaned and rubbed his sore eyes. As soon as he had felt the cold coming on, he'd tried to stop it head on with overpriced chicken soup from the corner restaurant and inhumane amounts of orange juice. It didn't work, probably due to the fact that he slept in the park, and he had been feeling crappier and crappier with every hour that passed.

"_Achoo!_" At least he didn't orb when he sneezed, as he had been reminded every time he was sick as a kid. The story of Paige Halliwell, a famous charmed one, sneezing herself into an alternate reality had been a favorite with his mother.

In an attempt to warm up a bit, Chris ducked into the nearest public bathroom. He pulled off his soaked shirt and tried to squeeze the liquid out over a sink. In the mirror, he looked at his reflection with disgust. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. Of course, if he was lucky all of him would be the same shade of chalky white, but it wasn't. the bright blue had spread from his hands and arms up his chest and to the base of his neck, and glowed to the point it was almost glow in the dark. He didn't want to take off his waterlogged jeans, because he knew they'd be too much of a hassle to get back on, but he knew from the familiar tingling sensation if he did his legs would be the same color.

As he was studying himself and drying to dry off his shirt, basking in the heat of the bathroom, another tickle attacked his nose. Knowing sneezing would be really bad, especially considering what Phoebe had seen, he tried to fight it off. It proved to be unavoidable, and he sneezed again, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on the faucet.

When he lifted his head again, he saw a change in the image reflected in the mirror. He wasn't the only one in it. There was a slightly overweight man wearing a yellow rain slicker and staring at him like he had two heads. That was when Chris remembered with a sinking feeling that his glowing arms were fully visible, and realized it had spread up his neck.

He hurried back into his sweatshirt and turned around to look at the man. "Hi," he said awkwardly, wincing at the pain it caused his sore throat.

The man just stared at him for a minute. Then, in an awed voice, he whispered "What are you?"

Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a person," he said. "Why do you ask?" He pretended to look confused, then had an epiphany. "Oh, do you mean this?" he pulled up his damp sleeve, revealing a bit of blue. "It's a rash." He pulled his sleeve back down and leaned forward like he was about to reveal a big secret. The man obliged and leaned in expectantly. "Never try that tanning booth down at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and 73 Avenue," he whispered.

"It did this to you?" the man asked. Chris nodded, and the man clicked his tongue angrily. "You have to do something about that."

Chris felt like he was going to sneeze again, and knew he had to get away from this man before he did. "That's a guh-guh-good idea," he said shakily. "I'll go do that." he put is hand over his nose and hurried out of the men's room. Away from prying eyes of anyone who could endanger the magical community, he sneezed and groaned in frustration. Feeling the tingling rise farther up his neck and spilling onto his chin, he knew he needed help. And unfortunately, there was only one place to get that help.

"He's going to reveal magic and all we can do is sit here," Paige sighed, leaning back on the couch. "this officially sucks."

"We all know that you can't make Chris do anything he doesn't want to do," Phoebe said reasonably.

"I know," Paige replied, "but I still don't like it."

"OK," Piper said quietly as she entered the living room, nursing a steaming cup of coffee. "Wyatt finally got to sleep, and as long no one makes any loud noises, he'll stay down." She sat down beside Paige on the couch and raised her drink to her mouth, but the doorbell rang before she could take a sip.

Wyatt's cries filled the manor and Piper sighed, rising from her seat to go attend to her son. Phoebe walked over to the door to see who it was. "Who is it?" she called through the glass.

"Chris."

Paige jumped up from the couch and ran over as Phoebe pulled open the door. Chris had his face and hands covered, putting Phoebe immediately on guard. She pulled him in the house and shut the door behind him. The sisters led Chris into the living room, where he sat down on Piper's vacated cushion. Looking around to make sure they were alone, he pulled off his ski mask and hood. Paige gasped. The glowing blue tinge they'd noticed on his arm had spread, engulfing his entire face and touching his hairline. His bright blue eyes looked tired, and he coughed deeply into a fist once his face was free, a sound Phoebe really didn't like.

"I came really close to getting caught," he rasped, holding his chest.

"What did you do?" Phoebe asked.

"Nothing! He just got a glimpse of my skin. I convinced him it was some sort of weird rash, but I need some way to hide it, or I'm in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, speaking of which, why does your skin look like that?" Paige asked.

"You know how you orb when you sneeze?" he asked.

"When I'm sick," she agreed. "Are you sick?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And I'm kind of orbing. Like, every time I sneeze or cough or something, I turn…orby."

"Orby?" Paige repeated.

"you don't recognize the color?"

Phoebe and Paige studied his skin more closely. Sure enough, it was the exact same color as orbs."

"I don't get it," Phoebe announced. "You're orbing, but you're not orbing?"

"Yeah. It's kind of hard to explain. I'm in orb form, but I'm not orbing. I could orb, but now that I'm all blue, I can't anymore. Theoretically, I shouldn't have anyway because it makes it go faster."

"Why are you blue?" Piper asked as she reentered the living room.

Chris opened his mouth to answer, but ended up in another coughing fit instead. Phoebe took pity on him and retold the story.

"Now you really can't leave," Piper told him. "There's no way you can go out in public like that."

"I know."

Piper turned to Phoebe. "Can you tell if he's feeling overly evil at the moment?"

Phoebe squinted her eyes in concentration for a minute, then shook her head. "Nope."

Piper sighed. "Fine. But if I catch you doing anything, _anything_, to hurt my son, I will vanquish your ass now and in the future."

"Fair enough." He tried to smile gratefully at her, but just sneezed again and groaned.

"You know, you're kind of lucky," Paige told him.

"Because I can't sneeze myself into another dimension?"

"How do you know about that?" Paige asked.

"My mom used to tell me when I was sick as a kid."

"Your mom knew us?" Piper asked.

"Everyone knew you," he told her quickly. "You're the charmed ones."

"That must be it," Piper agreed.

"Why don't you get some rest," Paige suggested as Chris started coughing again. He nodded, and leaned back against the couch.

"Strip first," Piper ordered.

"Excuse me?"

"You're clothes are soaked through. You can't sleep in them."

"So you want me in your house naked?" he asked.

"No. I want you in my house alive. And in your underwear."

Chris shed his heavy jeans and sweatshirt, and stood shivering in his T-shirt and boxers. Phoebe wrapped a thick quilt around his shoulders. We'll have Leo leave you some clothes next time he checks in."

Chris snuggled into his quilt and drifted off to sleep on the couch. The sisters watched him. "This is too weird," Paige said.

"I agree," Phoebe added.

"Ditto," Piper put in. They looked at each other for a minute, then at the sleeping form on the couch. "We'll have some serious talking to do in the morning," Piper said. "But for now we'll just let him sleep. Looks like he could really use it." She resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair.

"Told ja he was worried because he knew," Paige said as they all headed off to their respective rooms.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Yay, I got reviews. I was going to ask for them, but I got them anyway. I'm happy now.

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"How are you feeling?" Piper asked not unkindly the next morning.

"A lot better, thanks," Chris replied, struggling to sit up.

Piper noticed his problem and rolled her eyes. "How are you really feeling?"

"Like a mantacore had me for dinner and then threw me up."

Piper nodded. "That makes a lot more sense, seeing as that's how you look." Chris glared at her. "Well you do."

"I'm fine," Chris said hoarsely. "I know I shouldn't have come running back to you last night, but I didn't know where else to go." He looked so pathetic and sick at that moment, Piper felt her anger melting away, even more so when he continued. "I promise I'll be out of your hair as soon as I can sit up straight." He attempted to get up again, but started coughing from the effort.

"That may be awhile," Piper told him, placing a hand on his forehead. He was very warm; not burning up, but definitely feverish enough to be uncomfortable. He flinched a bit at her touch, as though afraid she'd hit him.

"Do I have a fever?" he asked curiously.

"Not bad, but it's there. I don't see why you're so Paige what the hell are you doing!" Paige had orbed onto the couch in the middle of Piper's answer, scaring both her older sister and former whitelighter. She grinned sheepishly and lifted up the book she was holding as a peace offering.

"I brought the book of shadows," she explained unnecessarily.

"You shouldn't have bothered," Chris told her. "There's nothing in there that'll help me."

"But have you ever looked specifically for something to fix this?

"Yes."

"Really?" Paige looked up confused from the giant tome she was flipping through. "When?"

"Doesn't matter." He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Could you get off my foot?"

Paige scooted over a bit. "What about a vanishing spell?"

"You want to vanquish my skin?"

Piper chuckled. "That'd be a sight. And as I was saying before I was _rudely interrupted_," she shot Paige a mean look, "you do have a fever, but it's not enough to make you this weak."

"Could not eating for three days do it?" he asked.

"You haven't eaten in three days?" she repeated loudly. He nodded. "I'm going to make you some soup."

She got up from the chair she had previously placed by the couch and headed for the kitchen, but was stopped by Chris' voice. "No thanks."

He turned around with her eyebrows raised. "You haven't eaten in days and you don't want food."

He shrugged, or at least she thought he did; the blanket by his shoulders moved anyway. "I'm not really that hungry. Plus, I'm allergic."

"Allergic to food?"

Chris shook his head. "Your soup."

Paige looked up from her book. "When have you ever had her soup?"

Chris blushed. "At some point." Piper and Paige glared at him, making it clear this wouldn't be enough information. "I was friends with your kids," he confessed, head bowed.

"You were friends with Wyatt?" Piper asked incredulously.

Chris shook his head frantically. "No. I was friends with Phoebe's daughter."

The sisters were silent for a minute, absorbing this new bit of information. Obviously, they'd have to tell Phoebe when she got home from work. Then, Piper continued to walk to the kitchen. "I'm going to go make your soup."

Chris tried again to sit up, calling to Piper "I told you I can't eat that."

Piper stuck her head out of the door. "You lie a lot."

"She has a point," Paige pointed out.

"Yah yeah yeah."

"So do you really know Phoebe's daughter?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah."

"She your age?"

"A few years younger."

"Okay," Paige squirmed a bit, trying to work up the courage to ask what she really wanted to ask. "Do I have any kids."

"The titans kill you," he reminded her. "I told you that already."

Paige blushed. "Oh yeah." There was silence for a few minutes, Paige flipping through the book of shadows and Chris attempting to fall back asleep before Piper got back. Then Paige spoke again. "Does Piper have any other kids?"

Chris groaned into the pillow, before struggling to face the half-witch again. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Future consequences," he reminded her.

"I hate that phrase," Page snapped. "Who taught you that anyway?"

"My aunt."

"Do I know her?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't tell her what?" Piper asked as she reentered the room carrying a steaming bowl.

"If she knows my family in the future," Chris told her, "and I can't eat that."

She handed him the bowl. "Of course you can't, your hands are shaking." He looked down at his hands, which had been trembling slightly without him noticing. "That's why I didn't give you a spoon."

"I can't drink the soup either."

"Sucks for you," Piper said. "Cause you're going to."

"Piper-"

"Do it!"

Chris took the bowl and brought it to his mouth, taking big gulps of the sweet liquid. It had been a very long time since he'd had any of Piper's home cooking, and the memories it brought up were almost sufficient to make him forget why he was so reluctant. Almost, but not quite.

He could feel his stomach churning painfully at the first sip, but when he tried to put it down Piper glared at him. He finished quickly, placing the empty bowl shakily on the ground.

"See?" Piper teased when he was finished. "Was that so bad?"

Chris hastily nodded yes and jumped up from the couch, making a beeline to the bathroom. Piper and Paige shared a confused look, and Piper got up and cautiously followed Chris. She found him kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet, violent sick.

"Oh dear," Piper gasped. "You really are allergic."

"Told you," he muttered, groaning as another wave of nausea hit him.

"You were right about the book too," Paige announced from the door where she had apparently followed them to. "There's spell in there."

"Why is the book of shadows on the couch?" Phoebe asked s she walked into the living room after work. "Was there an attack? Why didn't you call me? Where are you?"

"We're in the bathroom," Paige called.

"Together?" Phoebe kicked dropped her jacket and purse on the chair and headed to the bathroom. "What's wrong with you?" she asked Chris.

"Piper practically force-fed him some soup he was allergic too," Paige told her.

Piper glared at her. "It was an accident. I didn't know."

"I told you," Chris reminded her. "But you didn't believe me."

"Well you do lie a lot," Piper said defensively.

"And you hate that. And you hate me. I told you your son turns evil, and I've been completely dishonest with you the whole time I've been here. Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because you're kind of too-" Piper had to wait to finish as Chris threw up again. "Pathetic."

As the need to turn his intestines inside out lessened, Chris was finally clearheaded enough to actually take in what was going on. "Are you really all standing here watching me hurl?" he asked with annoyance evident in his voice.

"Yes we are," Phoebe said. "Why are we doing that?"

"I don't know," Paige told her. "We should go."

Piper watched Paige and Phoebe head back to the living room before turning back to Chris. His eyes were tired and he was leaning against the wall. She felt a surge of protectiveness similar to the one she felt with Wyatt. Placing her hand on his neon forehead, she noted with a grimace his fever had gone up. There was no way he could stay on the floor like this.

"Are you done?" He nodded, and she helped him up and to the living room, where he promptly collapsed on the couch.

"I really am sorry," Piper said.

Chris nodded. "I know."

"well now that we're all square and stuff," Paige commented. "I have some good news."

"What's that?" Phoebe asked.

"Chris' eyes are red."

"Because they itch," he complained. "That's good news?"

"They're not blue."

"Hey!" Piper exclaimed. "She's right. Your face looks a little pinker too."

"Great," he sighed happily. "I can get out of here soon."

"Thanks," Phoebe said dryly.

"I have a question," Piper spoke up, wearing a contemplative expression. "You knew you were allergic to my soup. But I don't have the recipe written down. There's no way anyone could have made it for you in the future, except for"

"You?" He nodded. "You made it for me. Just once though."

"Why would I make you soup?"

"I was sick."

"But why would _I _make you soup?"

Chris blushed. "I don't know?"

"Yes you do," Piper argued. "Just tell me."

"I can't," he stressed. "Future consequences, remember?"

Phoebe grimaced. "Who taught you that annoying phrase?"

"You did," he said without thinking. A second later he realized what he had said and found the energy to sit up straight. "Crap."


	5. Chapter 5

itle: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Yay, I got reviews. I was going to ask for them, but I got them anyway. I'm happy now.

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"Crap?" Piper repeated "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lied. He cast a nervous look at Paige, to see if she had noticed his slip-up. She gave him no visual clue that he did. But, Chris reasoned, she had to have. Not an hour ago he had said his aunt taught him, then he said Phoebe did. He had come this far and worked this hard, and now some stupid momentary fever-induced delirium had caused him to ruin it all. Not good.

"Something's obviously wrong," Phoebe told him. "You look like you're going to throw up."

"Is that it?" Piper asked with concern. "Do you feel sick again?"

Here he was, presented with the most perfect excuse in human history, and he couldn't bring himself to use it because of Piper's concerned voice. But he could, he had to. It wasn't good for her to know, this was for her. Chris pushed the mental argument away and sat up. "Kind of," he lied. "I think I'm gonna go hang in the bathroom for awhile, just in case."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Chris shook his head quickly. "I don't need you hovering me while I upchuck my internal organs," he joked, hoping humor would keep Piper from deciding she was going to come with him anyway.

It worked. "Nice image," she told him, wrinkling her nose.

Chris hurried to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. He sat down on the closed toilet and put his head in his hands. He had to get out of the manor and away from the sisters. Even if Paige hadn't noticed, and he was sure she had, he had still come to close for comfort. The only thing he could do was stay away from them until his head was clear.

Of course, there was no way they'd let him go. And it'd be pretty hard to sneak out the front door considering he'd have to go through the living room to get there. So there was only one thing he could do.

Paige had said his eyes were red. Red wasn't blue. If a part of him was red, even as tiny as his irises, it meant he wasn't completely blue. And if he wasn't completely blue, that meant her could orb, right? It was certainly worth a try.

He pulled his ski mask out of his sweatshirt pocket, very glad he'd insisted on keeping it, and slipped it over his face, before gathering all his energy and orbing out of the manor.

It turned out he was half right. He could orb, that much was true. He just couldn't orb far. Only a few meters actually, as he appeared in the backyard of the manor. He'd hoped to end up at the park, but apparently his tiny bit of non-blue was only good for a tiny bit of orbing. Still though, he was out of the house. And that had been the goal. So sufficiently happy, Chris gazed up at the manor for a second, prayed Piper wouldn't be too mad at him, and began his long walk to the park.

"He's been in there a really long time," Piper fussed as she and Paige and Phoebe waited in the living room.

"Should we ask him to puke faster?" Paige asked.

"Yeah," Phoebe added, "maybe we could give him some more of your wonder-cure. That'd probably do the trick."

"I already apologized for that," Piper snapped irritably, "must you rub it in?"

"We were just joking honey," Phoebe told her gently.

"Yeah, we're worried about him too," Paige told her as the baby monitor on the table sprang to noisy life. "Which is why Phoebe and I will go check on Chris while you deal with Wyatt. OK?"

"OK," Piper agreed, jogging over to the stairs to attend her son. Phoebe and Paige headed over to the bathroom.

"Chris?" Phoebe called as she knocked on the door gently. "Are you alright in there?" Receiving no answer, she knocked harder. "Chris? Answer me or we're coming in." There was still no answer.

"Now we go in?" Paige asked.

"Now we go in." Phoebe turned the knob and pushed open the door slowly, giving Chris ample time to compose himself if he was indecent. He wasn't indecent. He just wasn't there. "Oh my God," Phoebe gasped.

"What is it?" Paige asked, giving Phoebe a slight push to get her out of the way. She surveyed the empty bathroom. "Chris is gone," she observed.

"Piper's gonna flip," Phoebe groaned. "Why in the world would he do this?"

"I don't know," Paige replied. "Maybe he just got sick of being here."

Phoebe glared at her. "You know, Piper was right. Sometimes humor is just really annoying."

"Sorry." Paige was silent for a minute, then pointed out the obvious they were both hoping to avoid. "We have to tell Piper."

"I know." Phoebe nodded sadly. She was worried about Chris, but it was nothing compared to how Piper would react.

Paige orbed upstairs into Wyatt's bedroom where Piper was rocking the boy in her old rocking chair. "It would take you another twenty seconds to walk," she complained. "Why do you have to orb everywhere?"

"Chris is gone," Paige blurted out.

Piper's movement ceased. She stared at Paige with wide eyes, praying Paige was about to crack up and say she was joking. When this didn't happen, Piper tightened her hold on Wyatt and hurried down to the bathroom.

Phoebe was still waiting there. "He must have orbed," she told her sisters when they arrived. "There's no window in here and we would have seen him go out the front door.

"But he said he can't orb when he's blue," Paige pointed out.

"He could have lied," Phoebe suggested. "He may have been pretty honest today, but he's still Chris Perry."

"No." Piper shook her head. "He didn't lie. If he could have orbed before he would have. Do you remember Paige saying his eyes were red?"

"And if he wasn't all blue…" Phoebe put it all together. "But he couldn't have gotten very far, could he?"

"I doubt it," Paige agreed. "Phoebe, why don't you go look for him. Search around the neighborhood. I'll orb down to P3 to see if he left anything I can use to scry for him."

"What do I do?" Piper asked.

"Just watch Wyatt. We got it covered."

Piper shook her head stubbornly. "I want to help."

"You can come with me," Phoebe offered. "We'll just bundle Wyatt up really warmly."

Paige orbed away, and Piper and Phoebe went over to the hall closet to get jackets and scarves. "Why would he do this?" Piper groaned as she squeezed Wyatt's head into a fuzzy blue hat. "He knows he can't go out in public all glowy like that."

"Is that really the only reason you're upset?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course it is."

"It's not that you're worried about him?"

Piper thought about it for a minute as the sisters started searching the neighborhood. "He made me really mad Phoebe."

"I know."

"He lies all the time. He brought a demon into Wyatt's room. I have every reason to hate him."

"But…?"

Piper sighed. "But I can't. I just feel horrible for him."

"Maybe you aren't meant to hate him," Phoebe suggested. "He obviously knows us in the future, maybe you're close."

"Maybe." They grew silent, except for Wyatt's gurgling contently, as they scoured the streets for Chris. It took them about four hours and one cranky baby's tantrum to make them realize he wasn't there.

"We should go home," Phoebe said unhappily. "Maybe Paige found him."

They headed back home, to find Paige sitting glumly on the couch idly flipping through channels on the television. She jumped up immediately when she heard the door slam shut. "Did you find him?" she asked excitedly.

"No." Piper shook her head. "And I take it you didn't either?"

"He didn't leave so much as a bookmark behind," Paige informed them. "When you told him to leave, he _really_ left."

"So now what do we do?" Phoebe asked as Piper took Wyatt upstairs to sleep.

Paige thought about it for a minute. "We could call Darryl. Tell him to call us if he spots anyone who looks like they lost a fight with a nuclear power plant."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Phoebe stated, already dialing the phone. She explained the situation to their old friend, twice as he had trouble believing her. By the time she hung up the phone, Piper was back.

"We called Darryl," Phoebe stated unnecessarily.

"What do we do now?" Piper asked.

"We wait."


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Review please?

A/N 2: Sorry for the mini chapter. I just wanted to add a cliffhanger. 

"Ugh." Chris walked down the damp and slippery street to the San Diego national park, and groaned as his sore muscles protested the movement. He'd gotten soft lying on the Halliwell couch, but now he remembered vividly how weak he really was. This wasn't an especially welcome reminder, and he momentarily regretted leaving.

_But of course I had to leave,_ he reasoned, _if I'm away, I'll be clearheaded enough to come up with a solution_. But his foggy mind contradicted his logic, and he groaned again.

"You could have cast a spell on them," a voice informed him. Chris' head snapped up, but he didn't turn around or run. For one thing, there was no way he was turning around without falling flat on his butt, and the quiet Asian voice didn't really frighten him. It sounded familiar.

"Who's there?" he asked.

The kindly old sorcerer who had given him a potion the other day stepped out from behind a tree. "My voice was not a sufficient indication as to who I am?"

Chris shrugged and gave him a weak smile. "My head hurts," he explained.

The sorcerer nodded. "I know. You are thinking much, and it troubles you greatly."

Chris raised his eyebrows. "You mean my confusion over everything is what's making me feel sick?"

"No. Your fever making you feel sick. That was just a sidenote. You're sick and want your mother's care, but you are fearful of her rejection should she discover your secret and not believe you. That's why you didn't want the red-haired witch to know. She will undoubtedly tell her sisters, and they will be angry you lied so significantly."

Chris grimaced. "What are you, psychic?"

"Yes."

"That makes a lot of sense," Chris told him, "seeing as you sell psychic-y potions."

The elderly man nodded. "Psychic-y potions, yes. Psychic-y assistance too."

"I don't need assistance," Chris defended himself, immediately on guard again. "I appreciate you digging into my temporal lobe and reminding me of my deepest fear just as much as anyone would, but I'm good. No more help."

"You don't wish to know what I have foreseen in your future?"

"Nope. I grew up with a psychic, remember? Phoebe Halliwell, the great charmed one. But even she couldn't change the future when she saw…it doesn't matter. I just learned to find things out the old fashioned way. Then you can't blame yourself for not being prepared enough."

"I understand." The sorcerer bowed and vanished in a puff on yellow smoke.

Chris coughed and fanned away the remaining smoke. "As if I don't have enough crap in my lung already," he grumbled.

"That movie was amazing Charlie," a girl's voice gushed. "And you even cried at the end."

"I had coke in my eye," a boy protested.

The voices made Chris freeze. In his conversation with the old sorcerer, he had completely forgotten his number one safety precaution. _Get where no one can see him._ He looked around frantically, hoping for anywhere to hide. There was a tree. Trees aren't known for being great hiding places, but he was desperate. He ran over to the tree with a burst on adrenaline unlike any he'd ever had and crouched behind it's thick trunk, trying to keep as still and quiet as possible.

Unfortunately, Chris hadn't sneezed for sever hours. At first, this had seemed fortunate, not unfortunate. But he was sick, and his nose was bound to remind him of the fact at some point. He held his breath and willed himself not to sneeze. It didn't work. _Achoo! _He held his breath again and prayed they hadn't heard him.

Then he heard the girl scream.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: If I can get up to 100 reviews, I'll do another story.

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"You're blue."

Chris grinded his teeth in frustration and tried again fruitlessly to pull his arms out of the thick chains. He'd taken off running as soon as the girl screamed, but he couldn't outrun her boyfriend, captain of the local high school's track team. Now he was chained to a chair in the San Diego police department being questioned.

"You already mentioned that," he reminded the beer-bellied cop, displaying bravery he really didn't feel. Truth be told, he was scared to death. But there was no way he'd let this man know that. You never let them know your weakness, that was the first lesson Wyatt had ever taught him. The hard way of course.

"You're blue," The man said yet again. "People aren't blue."

"I am," Chris argued.

"Exactly. Now fill in the blank."

"You're wrong?" Chris supplied.

The police officer raised his gun and took some large steps over to the back of Chris' chair. "No. Try again." Chris didn't say anything, and the man kicked his chair. His head shook back and forth painfully, but he didn't say anything. "What are you boy?"

Chris didn't answer, and the man lifted the gun and pressed it against the back of Chris' head. Chris felt the cold metal and winced. He hoped it would be over quickly. "I said," the cop spat, "what the hell are you?"

Chris was tired. He was in pain. He really didn't give a damn anymore, and the answer came out before he could even think to stop it. "I'm an angel," he whispered.

"Has anyone seen a young man, about 6'1, brown hair?" Darryl asked the officers gathered around the water cooler.

"I did."

"Officer Crupkyn? You've seen him?"

"That depends who him is. Are you looking for a lunatic with some freaky skin condition?" The slim African American woman wondered.

"Yes," Darryl answered excitedly. "You know where he is?"

"In the back room being interrogated by Smith." She bid him farewell and returned to her work.

This was not good, Darryl realized. Smith was a very intense man, always determined to find the answer at any cost. He had to get Chris out of there.

"We'll find him Piper," Phoebe reassured the anxious witch for what she assumed had to be the twelve million and 8th time. "He's probably at some magic bar we don't know of."

"Or he's at the police station," Paige called, running from the kitchen with the cordless phone in her hands. "Darryl called. He's there."

"I didn't hear the phone ring," Phoebe said curiously.

"It didn't. I was on the other line with Richard."

"Less talk. More orbing," Piper commanded. Paige obediently hung up the phone and orbed herself and her sisters to the police station.

Darryl was waiting for them outside. "He's in the interrogation room with Officer Smith."

"Do you think 'Please release our neon friend' would work?" Paige asked. Darryl gave her a look. "I didn't think so," she sighed.

"Piper?" Phoebe prompted.

"With pleasure." Piper flung open the door to the police station and with a wave of her hand, froze everyone inside.

"What are you doing?" Darryl demanded.

"Rescuing Chris," she answered as she headed to the back room.

"But won't someone realize a prisoner is missing?"

"I'll have Leo erase their memories later," Piper replied nonchalantly. "Why's Chris a prisoner anyway?"

"He's blue."

Piper rolled her eyes. "This is why we told him not to leave. But did he listen? Noooo."

She twisted open the doorknob and entered the room. Chris pivoted his head to see who it was. "Hi Piper," he said meekly.

"Hi Piper?" she repeated, hitting the locks on his chains with localized explosions. "After everything you put me through, all I get is a 'Hi Piper'?"

"Sorry?"

"It's a start." She grabbed Chris' free wrists and pulled him to his feet, and to the door. "I'm sure we'll figure out some kind of suitable punishment back home."

"Suitable punishment?" He chuckled, but stopped quickly as the action made him cough. "I'm not four."

"Your poor mother, she probably had to keep after you night and day."

"mmmmhhhmmm," Chris mumbled. They had reached Phoebe and Paige, both of whom Chris deliberately avoided eye contact with, and Paige orbed them all home.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: This chapter is short and uneventful, but I had to do it to get myself posting again. It's been forever.

A/N 2: I got 100 reviews. That's amazing! Thanks guys.

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Phoebe put the last crystal in place, and the other 4 all glowed brightly for a minute. Satisfied, she straightened up and smirked at Chris. "Your magic no-orbing barrier is in place," she informed him.

Chris frowned at her from the now enclosed couch. "My mom used to do that to me when I was, like, nine."

"Yes, and seeing as you're acting like you're nine, I think this a very good solution."

Chris just glared at her. Don't you have something to do. Like go to work?"

Phoebe grinned. "I'm about to leave. But don't get any ideas about leaving the circle, Paige is staying home with you all day. We had to draw straws to see who got to play hokey and play with our favorite neurotic whitelighter from the future."

"Oh joy."

"Phoebe, stop mocking the boy," Paige chided, entering the living room with a glass of orange juice and the newspaper.

"I'm not mocking him. I'm just giving him some reverse psychology tough love type thing to make him cooperate."

Paige shook her head. "That only works when you're someone's mom."

Phoebe shrugged. "Whatever. I've gotta run, call me if something comes up."

Paige waited until Phoebe was out of the house before handing Chris the juice and newspaper. "She isn't your mom though, is she. Just your aunt."

Chris thought about denying it, but realized his efforts would be fruitless. He had been caught. "Just my aunt," he agreed.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Chris took a gulp of juice, trying to avoid the question for as long as possible. Paige saw through his actions and shook her head. "I've got all day," she informed him. "And you've only got so much juice."

"I don't know," he admitted, eyes cast down on the floor. "Maybe I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. Maybe I was afraid you would. And then it was too late."

"It's never too late to tell the truth," Paige said.

"Yes it is. Can you imagine what Piper will say if I tell her now? She'll think I'm lying again and hate me. And then she'll never want to see me again." Chris made eye contact with Paige, and it broke her heart to see how sad he looked. "I've already lost her once, and I can't do it again."

"Oh honey." Paige sat down on the couch and put her arm around the witch-lighter. "You're not going to loose her again. I promise. I'll even go with you to tell her if you want."

Chris shook her arm off and folded his across his chest defensively, though Paige had no idea what he was defending himself from. "I can't tell her," he said.

"Why the hell not?" Paige demanded.

He shrugged. "Things are fine the way they are. If everyone knows it'll do nothing but cause trouble."

"But I know, what's to stop me from telling? Are you going to cast a memory spell on me?"

"The thought has crossed my mind," he admitted.

Paige smacked him in the arm. "Do not cast a spell on me you little twerp," she ordered. "I'll send you to your room."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Aren't we forgetting something?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Paige thought about it for a minute. "Oh yeah, you have no room."

"Bingo."

They were quiet for a few minutes, and Chris started reading the newspaper just to have something to do other than sit there awkwardly.

"You're telling Piper," Paige told him.

"No I'm not."

"Then I am," Paige threatened. "But I think it'll sound better coming from you. You have the whole 'I'm sick you have to be nice to me' thing going on."

"No one is telling Piper," Chris told her. "Do you think she really wants to hear this?

"Probably not," Paige said. She stepped outside the crystal circle for a minute and held up her hand. "Phone." The cordless phone appeared in her outstretched palm. Chris begged her to be reasonable, but she dialed Piper's cell phone anyway.

"Hey Piper? Chris has something he needs to tell you."


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: Reviews are, as always, appreciated. And I'm sorry it's short, but I'm just wrapping everything up. There are only one or two more chapters, so enjoy.

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Chris didn't say anything, and Piper started getting impatient. "Well?" she demanded. "What is it?"

"I...um..." He hung up the phone quickly, embarrassed. "I can't do it," he told Paige."

Paige sighed in frustration. "And why the hell not? I told you, you won't lose her again."

"Because she hates me."

"Chris..."

"No Paige, You don't get it. I knew this would happen. I knew you and Phoebe and Piper would hate me, but it needs to be this way. I have to save Wyatt, or everything I fought for is and everyone I lost will all have been in vain. And what'll happen now? Even if Piper does accept it, everything will change. No one will listen to me anymore, no one will trust me. We can't afford to lose now."

Paige shook her head sadly. "You have it all so wrong," she sighed.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone," he begged.

"Chris..."

"Promise."

"I promise," she submitted. "I won't tell them." She poked him in the nose. "But keep in mind that I think you're being an idiot."

"Deal." Chris smiled at her, then coughed. "So, what do you say we break out of this place and have some fun?"

"I would say 'who the hell are you and what have you done with my whitelighter?', but in order to save my sanity, I'll say 'you're clealy delirious.'"

"Because..." he prodded.

"Because you're bright freaking blue."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I am. Sorry."

Paige looked at him concernedly. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not really acting like yourself."

He coughed again. "I'm fine."

"Liar."

"I guess I'm a little tired," he admitted. "And my head's killing me."

"Then go to sleep," Paige suggested. "This whole mess will still be around when you wake up.

It took a few minutes and much convincing, my eventually Chris was asleep and Paige was staring at the phone in her hand, debating calling her sisters. She had promised she wouldn't, but what if it was for his own good? He moaned and shifted around uncomfortably, and Paige's decision was made. He was sick and unhappy and needed his mother.

She dialed Piper's cell phone.

"You'd better actually say something this time," Piper said when she picked up the phone.

Paige took a deep breath. "Chris is your son."


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Shades of Blue

Season: 6

Summary: The sisters never really trusted Chris. Then they caught him letting a demon into Wyatt's room and kicked him out of P3. No one's seen him since. Until now.

Disclaimer: If I owned Charmed, Chris wouldn't have died. Chris died, therefore I don't own Charmed. That's got to be some kind of math proof.

A/N: I was going to say "This is it. I hope you liked it. And reviews are, as always, appreciated." Instead I'm saying "I've decided to break the end into two small chapters. So one more left dudes."

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Piper had requested that Paige "orb her ass over to P3 right now and Paige, not wanting to have two people pissed at her, immediately complied. Now she was sitting on the squishy couch Chris had slept on when he first came to the future ackwardly while Piper paced in front of her.

"Please say something," Paige pleaded.

"Say something? Say something?! What am I supposed to say Paige? Tell me that. You drop this huge bomb and what, I'm just supposed to accept it and go about my merry way? No, a sufficient amount of time must be given for processing to occur. Also, this processing time should take place after we figure out if he's lying his ass off."

"He isn't lying. He's really your son. I know he is."

"How? How do you know?" Paige opened her mouth to explain, but Piper cut her off. "No, I get what you said about letting it slip about his aunt. But he's smart. We can't forget that. He could have only pretended to let it slip."

"And this is why he wouldn't tell you." Stressed and upset, Paige did the only thing she could think of: she got reinforcements.

"Can someone tell me what's so important I had to leave an important meeting?" Phoebe demanded as Paige orbed her into the back room of P3.

"Paige has an interesting thoery she wants to share with you," Piper told her. "And how did you get out anyway?"

"You don't want to know."

"Fair enough," Piper reasoned. "Paige, tell her the news."

Paige fought to keep her voice even. "Chris is Piper's son." She wasn't sure what reaction she was hoping for, but laughter certainly wasn't it. "Not a laughing matter Phoebs."

"Oh. You mean you're serious?"

"Thank you," Piper said. "At least someone else realizes how preposterous this is."

"Yeah, I'm with you honey." Giving Paige a 'you're out of your mind' look, Phoebe placed her hand on Piper's shoulder to comfort her sister. As soon as she made contact, she gasped as she was pulled into the most memorable vision she had ever seen.

_Piper was sitting on the floor of the manor playing blocks with Wyatt. The front door creaked open, and Wyatt ran over to it at the sound. Piper just sat there smiling until Leo walked into the room, bouncing Wyatt up and down. He settled the grinning and babbling toddler in one arm and extended the other to help Piper up. She accepted it with another smile, tired but grateful, and let Leo drag her to her feet by one hand, her other hand on her swollen belly. Leo put his hand over hers, and they just stared in each others eyes silently, the perfect family, normal for those few special moments._

_Then the scene shifted, and Phoebe was in a dark hallway. She walked down, stepping through the rubble and broken glass and wood and severed body parts on the ground like a ghost. on Disgusted as she was, she couldn't help feeling an ominous sense of familiarity. Then she realized where she was. It was the manner. But it wasn't the manner from her time. It had been changed drastically, painted and expanded, but it was the manner. She got to the stairs and glided down to see a fight going on. Two teenage boys, the older one blond and the younger one a brunette who roused another wave of deja vu in Phoebe. A demon snuck up behind him, and Phoebe tried to shout a warning but was unable. Then the blond boy yelled "Chris! Look out!" He pivoted quickly and blew the demon up with what seemed like the same power Piper had. Phoebe backed away slowly and tripped over something. As she picked herself up, she glanced down curiously to see what had tripped her, and ended up staring into her own lifeless eyes._

_Another shift, and she was in a graveyard. She could hear screams and sirens all around, but it seemed serence here. Chris, a few years younger than the one she knew but clearly the same man, or boy as he looked so innocent here, that she knew, was sitting on the ground in front of a grave. He wasn't crying. He wasn't talking. He was just sitting there. Phoebe sat down next to him and looked at the grave._

_**Here lies Piper Halliwell**_

_**Loving mother, Devoted Wife, Beloved Sister.**_

_**She will be missed. **_

_**1973-2016**_

_Phoebe's and Paige's were on next to it, with similar wording. No footsteps or any other sound were heard to signify someone joining them, but Phoebe felt another prescense. One of evil. Chris made no move to indicate that he heard it, but greeted the intruder. "Wyatt."_

_"Little brother," a man, Wyatt, replied. "I knew I would find you here." Chris didn't say anything. "I can to give you one last chance. Join me."_

_Again, Chris didn't answer him. Instead, he turned his head so he was staring Phoebe right in the eye. _This is insane_, she thought, _he can't see me. _Then he orbed away. Wyatt stepped forward onto Chris' vacated spot. He stood there a moment, then walked accross his mother's grave and out of the graveyard, leaving Phoebe alone. _

With a gasp, she was wrenched from the future and found herself facing her sisters again.

Then she fainted.


End file.
